Does that make sense?
by katherinebrittin
Summary: afterlife, beginning to end with a little twist This is only done simply because of my love for afterlife, it isn't of any high standard. Please read, review and enjoy :D
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

'_We are very lucky with our special speaker tonight Ladies and Gentlemen. Having only been in Bristol for a few days, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Alison Mundy.'_ There is a faded clapping sound coming from the audience. The announcer gestures towards the curtain in the left hand wing, footsteps slowly make their way from behind the curtain. A woman walks out onto the stage. The spot light follows her to centre stage where she picks up the microphone. She stares into the audience, looking at the vacant expressions on the people's faces. _'Thank you...'_ She says quietly into the microphone. She clears her throat and tries again. _'Thank you very much for having me here this evening.' _There is a cough coming from the audience, in Alison's head there is only the sound of crickets. _'You may not know who I do, I'm not the most well known in the real world. I never know what to say, I usually just waffle on until something happens. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I'm not in charge you see, they are. Sometimes it is really embarrassing, sometimes nothing comes and we just go home. ' _She paces the stage with a few little steps but not taking her eye off of one person in particular. _'Excuse me madam, I'm sorry to have to bother you as I can tell that you would rather me not talk to you. I can't ignore this so I have to carry on...' _She stands still on the spot and sits down centre stage. _'...you've been married haven't you?' _The woman sits up; the spot light quickly shines on her. _'Yes I have, but I don't see how that is relevant to anything.'_ Alison looks at her; she could tell that she was trying to deflect talking to her. _'You also had a child, a child that died?' _Her face dropped, her eyes widened in disbelief, tears began to roll down her face.  
_'You see, I have your child here with me now, talking to me...' _She points and breaks away, she turns her head to the side, and the audience follow her head. _'...hello...who are you? ...' _She begins to nod. _'...okay, I will tell her...are you sure? ...okay, thank you...' _she smiles and turns back to the audience. _'She just wanted me to tell you that she is okay...' _she turns to the child again; she talks to the woman in the audience with her head still facing the child. '..._she is safe and nothing can hurt her anymore...she said you need to stop...to stop worrying and move on, to stop living in the...past. Nothing can change anything so there isn't anything anyone can do...she is happy where she is, she are living their life.' _She turns back to the woman. _'Does that make sense?' _The woman in the audience is now crying, tears are reflecting off the light. _'Thank you.' _She struggles to say through the tears.  
Alison wonders to the other side of the audience.  
_'Like I said, I have a tendency to waffle on and on until something comes to me. There is someone else here, I'm not sure who they are or who they are attached to. It's a woman; she looks a little like, a little like you actually...' _She points at someone in the audience. _'...the only real difference that I can see is that her hair has got a natural red shade to it, unlike yours. Which I'm guessing is dyed?'_ The girl in the audience nods. _'I can't see here face properly, only certain details are standing out...' _Alison stares at the girl, or at least that's what everyone thinks. _'The woman is now standing behind you.' _The girl responds. _'You must be mistaken; I don't know anyone who has died.' _Alison nods and puts her tong to her teeth. _'There seems to be a problem with what you just said, she isn't moving to anyone else. She's got a white coat on; her hair is reddish to about here.' _Alison gestures to where her hair is on herself. _'I'm telling you, I don't know who this woman is. I don't know anyone who has died.' _Alison walks away; the woman is still standing there. She tried to move on to someone else but she won't move.  
_'If you will excuse me ladies and gentlemen, as lovely as this has been, and it has been a very interesting evening, my time is up. Thank you for sitting through and I may see some of you some other time.' _There is clap from the audience. She hands the microphone back to the announcer and walks off back into the wings and behind the curtain. As she walks further to the behind the curtain and stage the audience and announcer's voices slowly fade into silence.  
The woman in the white coat is next to her, Alison knows this.  
_'What do you want? ...she won't listen to me, she doesn't believe me...I'm sorry, and there isn't anything I can do to help you...' _Just as she was about to continue someone comes up behind her. _'Great show tonight Alison, you really had the audience's attention. Can I write you in for another performance next week?'_ Alison turns around; she is greeted with a smiley woman who works at the venue. _'Look, I'm sorry. This was just a onetime thing. I was asked by this elderly couple. To be honest I'm not sure how they found me, I'm only new. I doubt I will be doing it again, it was only a favour. Plus I've moved on from this. I'm sorry.' _Alison picks up her bag and walks out leaving the women standing there watching her walk away.  
On the walk home Alison wraps herself in her jacket and scarf. Smoke is coming out of her mouth, from the reaction of her warm breath with the cold air. She walks up the hill towards her house; she goes around the wall and walks up to front door.  
_'Excuse me? I was wondering if you could help me.' _Alison turns around quickly. _'What are you doing here?'_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'_Look, Veronica. It's not that I don't want you here; I just don't understand why you are. You didn't exactly seem keen back in the theatre.'_ Alison says as she brings two cups of tea to the table in her kitchen. _'Do you take sugar?' _The person opposite shakes her head. Alison takes the sugar back to the kitchen side and takes a seat near the girl. _'So what is it that you want?'_ Alison picks up her tea and blows it to try and cool it down. _'If I'm going to be completely honest I think the person that you said you saw was someone that I actually know, and if it is the person who I think it is I want to know she is coming after me.' _Alison begins to nod; something catches the corner of her eye. _'What is it? What are you looking at?' _she tilts her head right and stares at the thin air. _'Is she here, is she here behind me?' _Veronica's voice starts to become agitated, she looks behind her shoulder but she doesn't see anything. She was about to ask another question when Alison took her fingers to her own lips. Veronica whispers _'What is she saying? Is she pissed off at me?' _Alison looks back at Veronica. _'You ask a lot of questions don't you. She wasn't really saying much, it was more so her face. How did you know her exactly?'  
_Veronica picks up her cup of tea and takes a sip. _'She's my mother; she died when I was younger.' _Alison looks at her, her face begins to tell a story of its own. ***FLASHBACK* **Alison is sitting in a classroom surrounded by her peer group. The teacher is calling out the register. _'Mundy?' _Alison lifts her head up from the desk. _'Here sir.' _Her eyes are swollen and red. Her teacher looks across at her. _'Mundy can you stay behind after registration, I would like to have a little word.' _He tries to give a reassuring smile. ***FLASHBACK* **_'Alison, are you alright?' _Veronica asks her with a tone of concern to her voice. Alison snaps out of her daydream and looks at Veronica. _'Fine.' _She was lying, Veronica didn't know this. _'What I think we should do is just slowly make our way around what has happened and how we can sort this out. She doesn't appear to be talking to me right now, she's just standing there. When she begins to speak to you I will let you and we can start then. If you will excuse me I have got some things to do if you wouldn't mind leaving.' _Veronica nods and drinks the last bit of her tea. She stands up, _'Thank you very much Alison, I hope we can sort this out and everything will be okay.' _  
Once Alison had closed the front door being Veronica she walks back into the kitchen and takes the mugs off the table and puts them into the sink. She lets out a big sigh. _'I know you are here, I can't help you unless you talk to me. I won't tell her. I just want to give her closure, so she can move on.' _She turns to face her but she has vanished. She goes up to bed.

'_There are some things that I don't tell people, they don't need to know everything that has happened to me in my life. It's got nothing to do with them if I'm going to be completely honest. It's not that I wouldn't like a friend here, one that I can talk to about everything and know it won't get spread around. That is highly unlikely with what I do, everyone just make an automatic judgement about me, which really does piss me off. Since the accident I've tried to just get on with my life, not relying on anyone. It has worked in the past but I suppose I'm just tired of being lonely and not being able to escape the things I see and hear. I get asked if it's a 'cool' thing to experience. It isn't cool at all. I've tried to explain all the negatives about what I do but people don't really listen to me, I don't know why. They must think I'm lying when I say it's the worst thing to have happen to them, I hate the fact that I can see them but no one else can, so they don't believe me. You could say that I'm just tired and want to start again. I'm here for five minutes and that has already gone down the drain.' _Alison thinks to herself.

The next morning, once Alison was dressed and had a shower she goes down stairs and grabs a pencil and a piece of paper. She sits at the table and begins to write:  
**SHOPPING LIST **  
-eggs  
-milk  
-bread  
-bacon  
-cheese  
-butter  
-**washing up liquid **  
-jam  
-**smarties**

She walks over to her cupboards and looks to see what's inside. She then returns to the table and writes more on the list  
-soup  
-**bleach**

She gets up from the table and folds the piece of paper and then placing it into the back of her jeans pocket. Walking over to the living area she picks up hear coat and puts it on. _'Hello.' _She turns around. _'I thought it was you, I felt someone walk in. Are you ready to talk to me?' _the woman in front of her shakes her head. _'Fine, suit yourself. I have to go; I've got some shopping to do. You know where I am if you need to talk, when you are ready to talk to me about everything. Okay?' _she nods her head. _'Make yourself at home if you are staying. If you aren't staying you can let yourself go. I really need to get this shopping before it gets too late. Goodbye.'  
_Alison walks out of the living room towards the front door; she quickly turns to look back in the room. She had taken a seat on the chair in the corner.

Alison smiles to herself. _'I thought she would stay.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On her way up the hill to get to her house, Alison is carrying bags full of shopping. It appears to be more then what was on the list. As she makes her way to open the gate to get to the door a man walks up behind her_. 'Excuse me, are you Alison Mundy? Alison Mundy from last night?'_ Alison puts her shopping on the floor and turns around. '_Yes that's me. How can I help you?'_ She says with a slight tone of frustration in her voice. _'My name is Robert Bridge; I am Veronica's psychology lecturer. She told me that she came to see you last night.'_ Alison takes her front door keys out of her pocket. In total there are 3 different keys, all looking like front door keys. She doesn't drive so there is no other explanation, Robert thinks, for her to have 3 door keys. Alison puts the first key into the door and turns it 3 times right, she does the same with the second and third key but puts them in different key holes. Robert observes from the side. _'In you go.'_ Alison steps aside letting Robert through into the living room. She brings the shopping in and locks the door from the inside using the same 3 that used to unlock the door. She walks into the kitchen and puts her shopping bags on the side and begins to empty the content out onto the work surfaces. The milk goes into the fridge, middle shelf with the handle facing up and the bottle lid facing outwards. The eggs are each individually put into the door of the fridge, three rows of four. The cheese and butter are both put on the same shelf as the milk; the other dairy products are on there with them. This shelf is labelled 'dairy'. The bacon is then placed on the bottom shelf with the ham and chicken that needs a roast, as it goes out of date soon; this shelf is labelled 'meats'. She closes the fridge door. Looks at Robert who is observing her closely, and she knows it. The soup and jam are next put away, in the cupboard above the work surface. Tins on soup are lined up next to each other with their labels turned outwards, each arranged in alphabetical order, butternut squash, carrot and coriander, chicken, leek and potato, minestrone, mushroom, parsnip, sweet corn, tomato. The jam is placed on the shelf above. Alison bought a raspberry jam. She puts it next to her strawberry and orange jams. The bread is placed perfectly in the bread bin next to the toaster which is next to the cooker. Washing up liquid bottle is put next to the sink in the draining board next to the sponge and cloth. Finally the many bottles of bleach which Alison had brought were put under the sink next to the other 5 bottles of bleach. Robert watches her every move.  
_'Are you going to put the smarties away?'_ Robert asks as Alison had her back is towards him._ 'I will do, I just need...I just need to find some space for them. Somewhere that is clean enough for them. Why?' _She turns to face him. _'No particular reason, just curious.'_ Alison hums _'Curiosity is a brilliant thing isn't it Robert? Having a question in your head that you are so eager to find out what the answer is. What do you want? Why are you here?' _Alison knew exactly why he was here, as soon as he said he was a psychology lecturer she knew what was to come next. _'Like I said Veronica came to see me this morning.' _Alison interrupts. _'Were you with her last night, with that group full of university students?' _ Robert nods. _'I thought so, I recognised your face but I couldn't see where from. It now all makes sense. How could I forget a face that is so convinced everything I say is a lie?' _Robert looks a little confused. _'What is it Robert? Is it the fact everything I'm saying is true?' _He walks closer to Alison trying to dismiss everything that she had just said to him. _'Are you going to answer me Robert?'_ He looks at her. _'No, not really. I'm here to talk about Veronica.' _Alison walks over to the table.  
_'I was aware of a certain degree of negativity from your part of the audience. My problem isn't the vast majority; they all come with open minds. It is people like you who are trying to find answers for everything, even when things aren't there to be explained, and quite frankly Robert it is that small percentage that bother me the most. Thinking they...thinking they know everything that needs to be known, rationalising it all then coming to the small conclusion that people like me are simply wrong.' _She pours out a glass of red wine and offers it to Robert. _'No thank you, a bit too early for me.' _Alison laughs. _'It's a little too late for me.' _There is no response from Robert, no laugh, no smile, no snide remark on anything. _'I'm worried about Veronica's state of mind, she's susceptible to anything.' _Alison interrupts again. _'Susceptible, what do mean exactly susceptible?' _Robert doesn't know what to say. _'With respect, I've got a terrific student whose world has been turned upside down thanks to what you told her last night.' _Alison lets out a small laugh.  
_'So you don't think I am trying to help her? I didn't ask for her mother to come to me, and I'm pretty sure she didn't ask for it either. Like I said, I don't have control over anything like that. If I did, I wouldn't choose girls like Veronica to go to; I would go for people like you.' _She looks at Robert; he tried to act like she hasn't said anything that would cause him to react. _'I have no idea what you are talking about.' _Alison was right in what she though, she thought he was going to deny any acknowledgement to what she is talking about. _'Come on Robert, you know exactly what I am talking about.' _Again he pretends he does know what she is talking about.  
_'So that boy, standing right over there has got nothing to do with you, he is just standing here for fun?' _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

'_You are clearly confused.' _ Robert says to Alison though his front teeth. Alison lets out a laugh. _'You see, the thing is Robert, I am not confused. He is standing here, right in front of me. He is not a figment of my imagination, just because you can't see him doesn't mean he isn't here. Don't go dismissing him Robert, by doing that you are making him feel like complete and utter shit. Would you do that if he was your child? He is someone's child and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate you treating him like that.' _ Robert gives a slight hesitation; he cannot find the words to say to Alison. _'You are so wrong Alison; you haven't got the slightest clue what you are talking about.' _He looks at his watch. _'I think it's about time I left, I've got some work to do and I should leave.' _He heads towards the door, Alison shouts behind him. _'What are you so afraid of Robert? Are you scared that I am finding things out about you and it's making you uncomfortable?' _There is a faint laughter coming from the front door. _'You don't know the first thing about me Alison. You are completely clueless.' _Suddenly it all hits Alison. _'Fucking hell, he is your son isn't he?' _she says as she steps towards the door. _'Goodbye Alison.' _He walks away and she slams the door shut behind him.

'_I don't understand why he is so defensive, what's the worst thing I could do? I'm not exactly the most well known person; I mean not a lot of people listen to me. Plus Robert thinks the majority of the things I say are complete shit so why would he listen. There isn't anything I can do to help you, I'm so sorry. He won't listen to me; he doesn't believe me when I say I can see you. He is afraid to admit to the possibility of it all. He shouldn't be afraid; nothing is going to happen to him if he does believe.' _Alison thinks to herself as she sits in her arm chair, knees tucked up to her chin and her hands clasped together twiddling her thumbs as she talks to the little boy standing in the corner. _'And I can't look at you, I'm sorry about that too. I want to, you know I do, I just can't. I suppose I just don't want to let you down, I'm trying my best to help you, I'm trying to make him talk about what happened to you.' _She closes her eyes and breathes deeply. _'I promise you, I will get him to talk about what happened to you, and then we can try and sort this out.' _She smiles into thin air, turns around and the boy in the corner is gone. She turns back and tilts her head back and sighs.

After a while of being down stairs and drinking her bottle of red wine, Alison went up stairs and got herself ready for bed. As usually she opens her organised draw and pulls out one of her many black tops. She then moves down to the next draw and pulls out a pair of old grey jogging bottoms. She removes her day clothes and stands in front of her mirror. She runs her hands through her blonde hair, and then works her way down the rest of her face and neck. She then lifts her hand from her face and moved to her stomach. She lays her hands over it, gently rubs it and quickly puts her top on. As she walks over to the bed she slowly begins to put her bottoms on. Once she reaches the bed she leans over to the dial on her old fashioned television, turns the volume off and sits on the floor close to the screen. _'Why won't he speak to me? Was it so bad that he can't think about it? I'm pretty sure it can't have been that bad, he doesn't seem to be that sort. I've met that sort and he just doesn't fit in with them. I guess he may come around.' _

A few hours pass and Alison wakes up in her bed. It's 4:48am, once Alison is awake she can't get back to sleep. She just lays in her bed and looks to the ceiling. _'What's wrong with me? Why can't I just be normal like all the others? I never asked to be like this, I never asked to be a 'freak' or anything like that. If I hadn't have gone the other night no one would have ever known, I could have lived a normal life and been happy with it all. No one would know. I suppose that's just how life is.' _

She rolls on to her side and stares at the wall.


End file.
